Manufacture of shoes



Aug. 19, 1941. A. L. RUSSELL 4 MANUFACTURE 0F SHOES Filed June 8, 1939 Patented Aug. 19, 1941 `UNITl'L-D STATES PATENT OFFl-Cll.

lUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington; N; J., a Acorporation Vof New Jersey Appucauemune s, 1939, serial No. 218,119

claims; (c1.- 12-142) This invention relates tothe manufacture of shoes and is herein illustrated with-particular reference to improvementsin methods of making Welt shoes havingso-called fclose shanks, e.

welt shoes of the type in which the weltlies Aclose to the upper in the rshank portion of the shoe.

It is particularly diiiicult to obtain the much desired close relation .of the 'welt vto the'upper in the insideshank portion of a welt `shoe because in this locality the bottomv of the last on which the shoe is made merges gradually .into the sloping side surface of` the last and the outsole with the Welt attached theretolmust be distorted and stretched in the shank margin to a'subst'antial extent to conform it tol thecontour' of :the last. `In the manufacture of 'stitched' Goodyear Welt shoes it is the usual practice to lay the outsole with cement and thereby to secure the sole `temporarily in place upon `the shoe bottom. In the vshank portion of the shoe the outsole is conformed to the shoe bottom to a certain extent and the welt is pressed tward fthe upper moreor less by the sole laying pressure, butin the subsequent rough rounding and outsole stitching operations the welt crease -is opened up bythe crease guide of the rounding machine and the work supporting table of the stitching machine so' that, at the time when the welt and outsole are being stitched together along the shank ofthe shoe, the

welt and the outsole margin are forced a substantial distance away from the upper. Subsequent shank breakingand leveling operations tend to close the welt crease in the `shank and may result in providing a close shank condition which is more or less satisfactory at the time of the completion of the leveling operation, but invariably the outsole reacts from the influence to which it has been subjected to such an extent Vto spring away from the upper thus reopening the welt crease and rdestroying the 'close shank veifect.

`One object of the present invention is toprovide an improved method bythe practice of which superior results may be obtainedj in the manufacture of shoes having close edge Shanks. This object is accomplished in 4such a way `as to eliminate any tendency of the marginal sole Vextension at the inside shank portion of the shoe to `spring away from the upper after the-shoe has been finished.

In one exempliiication Vherein illustrated my improved method consists in subjecting the marginal outsole extension at the inside shank portion of a welt shoe,rand the corresponding attachedportion ofthe welt to `hot moist vapor rat" a high temperature for a period sufficient `to soften and relax the fibers in these portions of the sole and welt and while the fibers are so softened and relaxed and still damp and warm from the effect of the vapor, `bending and stretching these parts in directions both lengthwise and widthwise `of the shoe and, at the same time, pressing them against the upper with pressure directed to-ward the `shank portion of the last, which pressure, or acomponent thereof, is maintained while the heat of the vapor is being dissipated, and as a result the treated portions of the sole and the welt will have become permanentlyset in close relation to the upper.

As herein illustrated, Vmy improved method may be practiced without the use of any-special or unusual shoemaking apparatusexcept a simple device for discharging hot, i -moist vapor against the marginal portion `of Ytheoutsole and the corresponding portion ofthe-welt.r Advantageously, but not necessarily, -theforces and workingrequired todo the stretching and `conforming of the portions of the `shoe 4referred tomay be derived fromY a sole leveling machine of wellknowncon'structionas it performs its usual leveling-operation. `Such a leveling machine may, and preferably will, include a `flexible leather -saddle jack that will extend over and envelopthe entire areal-of the shankportion Vof the 'outsole Vand will be subjected -to considerable tension, Vassuch saddle jacks usually are. lThis will furnish Aone componentof 'the force required to stretch "and conformethe treated margin, and will lmaintain that-component to Vcounteract `reflex-tendencies as the qworking progresses; A leveling roll :that travels to and fro lengthwise of the Vshoe and is rocked from side to side while so doing will supplement the-'bending and stretching effects of the saddle 'by voperating thereon 'with relatively heavy pressure which is, of course, localized'and therefore operative to `compact-the relaxed fibers in -process e of being readjusted by- -`the bending and-stretching of the treated margin. My invention is not, `however,-necessarilyfrestricted in its application to methods which involve the conditioning of a sole after it has `been attached to a shoe, inasmuch as I contemplate alsosubjecting a portion, lfor example, the inside marginal 'shank portion of an unattached sole, to a conditioning treatment, to render thefibers of that portion of the sole temporarily relaxed and, while the fibers are so relaxed,`bending that portion of the `sole into a desired shape so that it will hug vthe shoewhe'nV the sole is laid.

lThe principles upon 'whichfthe present invention is predicated are exempliiied in the accompanying drawing forming part of this specication, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, elevational and vertical cross-sectional views of one type of conditioning apparatus by which hot, moist vapor may be supplied and restricted in its application to a selected portion, including the attached outsole, of a partially completed shoe;

Fig. 3 is a view showing a shoe in side elevation as mounted or jacked in a sole leveling machine and Yrepresenting the outsole and welt as having been leveled and otherwise Worked in that area of the shank to which the hot, moist vapor has previously been administered to condition those parts;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view ci the shoe in the plane indicated by line IV-IV in Fig. 3i; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View of a portion of the conditioning apparatus, slightly modied in one particular, illustrating the operation of conditioning an unattached sole.

The essential steps of the method herein set forth will be described by way of example with reference to themanufacture of a stitched welt shoe. It may be assumed that the illustrated shoe has been fabricated in accordance withA regular practices throughout all the usual stages of manufacture up to and including the sole stitching operation in which waxed thread is used, and, if necessary, the usual channel closing operati-on, and that the outsole is about to be leveled. It will be assumed that a close shank is desired along the inner margin only of the shank portion of the shoe and the description will proceed accordingly.

The illustrated shoe comprises, as usual, an upper 9, a welt I0, an outsole I I, and all the other elements commonly included in the structure of a welt shoe, all assembled and fabricated on a last I2. Prior to the operation of leveling, hot moist vapor will be used to treat the inner marginal portion or so-called marginal extension of the shank of the outsole for a length of time sufilcient to render that'portion, the corresponding margin of the welt, and the outsole stitches in those parts comparatively soft and pliant, to the end that this two-ply margin may be readily stretched and conformed to the body of the shoe by forces and working such as those commonly applied incidentally to sole leveling. Water vapor may be used for this purpose or vapor produced from any suitable tempering fluid. For example, the vapor employed may contain ingredients rendering it capable of more effectively or more quickly penetrating and softening the leather or enabling it to act as a solvent for certain stiiening substances present in the leather or in the wax or other substance upon the thread used for stitching the outsole to the welt.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is suitable for practicing the first step of the method described herein. This apparatus, as shown, comprises a stand including a pair of upright frame members I5, I5 and upper and lower bars 6 and I6, respectively, connecting the frame members. The frame members I5 are provided' with horns I1 that project far enough to afford support for a shoe lodged on them as represented in Fig. 2, and as suggested by the broken line II in Fig. 1 which represents the outline of the outsole of the shoe. The members I5 are also .provided with inclined surfaces I8 to be engaged by the tread surface of theoutsole and to cooperate with the 'horns II in'supporting the shoe and main- 75 taining it in a definite position while the preliminary conditioning treatment is in progress.

Fig. 2 includes only one-half of what may be termed a duplex conditioning apparatus adapted to condition one right and one left shoe simultaneously but it will be suicient for present purposes to describe only the portion illustrated for dealing with a right shoe. The upper connecting bar 6 is made hollow to provide a chamber I 9 (Fig. 2) into which condensed steam or moist 'vapor may be conducted by a supply pipe 2B. This pipe will preferably be provided with a valve 5 to regulate the quantity of steam or vapor so supplied. The temperature of the vapor may safely be about F. and the pressure in the supply pipe 20 will preferably be so low (one pound per square inch will be ample) that the vapor will impinge against the work with little velocity. Formed at one end of the chamber I9 is a discharge nozzle having a rectangular mouth ZI about three inches wide and about two inches from top to bottom, the rim defining this mouth being arranged to be covered by the tread face of the shank portion of Van outsole when the shoe is lodged on the horns I'I and the surfacesl as shown. The upper portion of this mouth 2l is located at a level that will enable the inside margin or extension 30 of the outsole to project one-quarter of an inch or more below it and thus to bridge the upper portion of the mouth from side to side. Consequently, when a shoe is lodged on the horns VII and the surfaces I8, as shown, a band or strip of the tread surface of the shank portion of the outsole, and the coextensive perimetersof the sole and the welt will be exposed to the hot, moist vapor issuing from the mouth of the nozzle.

Since the conditioning treatment of the vapor is not required by the upper of the shoe, it is desirable to restrict the flow of the vapor accordingly. Therefore, the nozzle 2l is provided with a shield consisting of a thin plate 22 the upper edge of which is arranged to project into the crease between the upper and the welt and is curved, as indicated in Fig. 1, to conform generally to the corresponding longitudinal curvature of the welt crease in the inside shank portion of a shoe. The opposite ends of this plate are preferably bent into confronting relation one to the other to provide wings or tabs 23 that embrace the upright side walls of the mouth 2I. These wings 23 serve not only to receive a supporting pin 24 by which the plate is pivotally connected to the bar Ii, but also to restrict the escape of vapor from the sides of the mouth of the nozzle. A light spring 26 coiled about one end of the pin 24 holds the plate 22 normally tipped outward against a stop 28 in position to enter the welt crease of the shoe.

The above-described conditioning apparatus is not claimed herein, the same being the subjectmatter of a copending application Serial No. p

278,120, led June 8, 1939.

As a result of conditioning the inside margin of the shank of the outsole and the corresponding margin of the welt with moist vapor controlled and restricted in its application to the region specified, the fibers of the leather in this portion of the shoe are relaxed and rendered inert and the region is rendered sufficiently soft, pliant, and workable to be stretched and conformed as hereinafter described The length of time'required for such conditioning treatment need'not exceed two minutes, since in that spaceof time the leather to be stretched and otherwise worked will vabsorb a sufficient -quantity ofmoisture and will be heated sufficiently to softenthe leather withjout scorching it and also to `soften the outsole stitches and the wax therein.

A-Wh'en the outsole and the welt have received `suitable preliminary treatment with vapor as 'above described, the operator willimmedlately subject the treated -area to forces and working that will stretch the treated margin lengthwise and at the Sametime conform this margin to theadjacent portion of the body of the shoe. This may be `done without a special operation or extra cost-by a` sole leveling machine of which suitable'types are illustrated in United States `LettersPatent Nos. 1,239g664, granted September -11, 1917, and 1,263,361, granted April 23, 1918, jon applications of W. C. Baxter. A machine of that type includes a last pin jack 3l (Fig. 3) and a toe rest 32 for supporting a shoe on a last, a `leveling roll 34 and mechanism for operating it, mechanism for reciprocating the shoe lengthwise to cause the roll to operate on the shank and the iorepart of the outsole while exerting pressure against the last, mechanism for rocking the roll from side to side, to the end that all portions of the shoe bottom `thatrecluire leveling will be treated, and `other usual equipment.

For the purposes of the present invention, the leveling machine will preferably be provided with a Saddle 36 of flexible sheet material such as leather to furnish a component of the forces required to close the weltcrease in the shank portion of the shoe. Such a saddle and mechanism for tensioning it may be of the type shown and described in `the aforesaid Letters Patent No. 1,263,361. The saddle islaid across the shank portion of the shoe bottom and its extremities flank the body of the shoe about which it is wrapped. Tension springs 38 connect the ends of the saddle, respectively, with :a lever (not shown) by which the springs 38 are distended with considerable force to tighten the saddle against the shoe bottom. When the shoe has been set up in the leveling machine and sadi dled,`the machine is set in operation to cause the i leveling roll to traverse the shoe bottom in the usual well-known manner, its pressure against the last supplementing the pressure exerted and maintainedby the saddle;

To obtain the best results for the purposes of the present invention; the shoe should be saddled and leveled before the heat of the applied vapor is dissipated, and in practice the conditioning apparatus is located adjacent to the leveling machine so that the shoe may be transferred to the leveling machine without delay. A number of conditioning units may be employed, the number varying in accordance with the capacity of the leveling machine operator. The saddle retards the escape of the heat and moisture while the sole is being conformed to close the welt crease. The leveling motions need not differ in any particular from those heretofore used in leveling, but when the leveling forces of the roll -34 and the saddle 36 are utilized to work a sole of which the inside margin 30 has been conditioned with hot, moist vapor as hereinbefore described, certain novel effects are produced that insure improved results ior close-shank work. For example, the moisture content and the heat in the treated margin of the shank of the outsole have a relaxing effect on the fibers of the leather in that region and this margin may, therefore, be readily stretched if properly worked while its bers are relaxed. The force exerted by the saddle'36 bends the pliant margin 30'toward the body ofthe shoe, and while this force is sustained itis supplemented bythe force and the rolling acbend the treated margin'lengthwise and width-- wiseso as to conform it to the hollow in the arch of the shoe but 'also to stretchand elongate that margin Vand to compact the fibers thereof in their new relation to each other while the bending and stretching forces are operating. As the bending, stretching and compacting effects are developed the saddle 36 maintains the conformed and stretchedmargin 33 against reflex action, and the edge of this margin becomes set in the shape represented in solid lines in Figs. 3 and 4 instead of springing back toward its normal position indicated by dotted lines 42 in Fig. 3.

-One advantageous result of restricting the treatment with hot, moist vapor to that portion of the margin that is to be `stretched in the manner described is believed to be that the fibers in this small area are caused by the stretching' to yield beyond their elastic limit to supply all the additional length required to develop the req uisite curvature (such as that indicated at #i2 in Fig. 3) so that they lose their power of recovery and consequently the welt crease will be permanently closed and the outsole margin will remain permanently in the desired close relation to the upper in the shank portion of the shoe. Other advantages of restricting the conditioning treatment to a narrow marginal portion of the outsole are that the portion treated will dry and become set in much less time than if a larger area were moistened and the drying action will not result in shrinlnng such as would tend to open the welt crease. Furthermore, inasmuch as the conditioning vapor is restrained from reaching the upper of the shoe, the latter will not be stained or otherwise injuriously affected thereby.

Fig. 5 of the drawing illustrates the conditioning of a marginal portion of an unattached sole prior to the performance of a bending or shaping operation upon thatportion of the sole "to facilitate the obtaining of a close shank in a shoe in which the sole is to be incorporated. In treating an unattached sole the sole is presented to the conditioning apparatus with the tread or 4grain side of the sole lying against the inclined surfaces I8 of the apparatus and with the edge at the inside shank portion of the sole resting upon the upper edges of the tabs or wings 23 of the plate 22. Thus, the Iedge of the shank portion of the sole and the adjacent marginal portion of the grain side of the sole will be exposed to the action of vapor from the chamber i9. As shown, the plate 22 is provided, at its upper edge, with an inturned lip 22a which engages the iiush side of the sole and, together with the rest of the plate 22 and the side tabs 23, serves to prevent escape of the vapor through the mouth 2|` of the nozzle at the end of the chamber I9. After the shank portion of the sole I!a has been conditioned by warm moist Vapor so that the fibers of the sole are temporarily relaxed in the same manner as in an attached sole, the unattached sole is subjected to treatment which elongates and bends the conditioned shank portion of the sole, thereby shaping it so that it will hug the shoe upper when the vsole is laid upon the bottom of a shoe. This bending or shaping operation may be accomplished by the use of any suitable means. ForV example, the sole may be placed upon a form or a last, such as the last l2 (Fig. 3), and the shank por'- tion of the sole may be conformed to the last by the use of pressure applying means, such as the leveling roll 34, or, if desired, the roll 34 may be used in conjunction with the saddle 36, the treatment being continued while the heat of the vapor is being dissipated and until the sole has been shaped -to the curvature of the last. The sole, thus treated, is so shaped that after it has been laid its lshank portion will lie in the desired close relation to the upper. The sole may, of course, be permanently -attached to the shoe in any desired manner. If, in the case of a Welt shoe,`the sole is stitched to the welt the close edge shank condition will be temporarily interrupted by the opening up oi the welt crease by the stitching operation but inasmuch as the shank portion of the sole margin has been preshaped Vto fit the last in the manner described it will tend to return to that shape and after the final leveling of the shoe the v shank pertion of the sole margin will remain permanently in close fitting relation to the upper.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in methods of treating welt shoes -on their lasts to obtain close tting shanks which consists in subjecting the edge face of the Welt together with the edge face and the adjacent tread surface portion of the outsole at the inside shank portion only of a Welt shoe to the action of hot moist vapor for a sufficient period to relax the fibers of said portions and, while said bers are so relaxed, stretching said Welt and said outsole margin throughout the length of said shank portion, and simultaneously bending said parts lengthwise and widthwise toward the last and into Contact with the shoe upper to cause them to lie permanently in close relation to the upper.

2. That improvement in methods of treating welt shoes on their lasts to obtain close tting shanks which consists in subjecting the edge face of the Welt and also the edge face and the adajcent tread surface portion of the outsole at the inside shank portion only of a welt -shoe to the action ofV hot moist vapor for a sufficient period to relax the fibers of said pontions, covering said portions to retard the escape of heat and moisture and, While said parts remain covered and are still in a relaxed condition, stretching said welt and said outsole margin lengthwise and Widthwise of the shoe and simultaneously bending said parts toward the last and into close relation to the upper.

3. That improvement in methods of manufac turing welt shoes which includes performing the usual making operations including the sole attaching, then subjecting only the edge face of the welt and the closely adjacent marginal portions of the outsole in the inside shank portion of the shoe to local tempering treatment to render the projecting shank margin pliable while protecting the rest of the shoe from the vapor, and then immediately subjecting said shank margin to a stretching and shaping operation to cause it to lie close to the last and become permanently set in that relation to the last.

4. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes which includes attaching a leather outsole .to a shoe on a last, subjecting the inside marginal shank portion only of the outsole and the corresponding portion only of the welt to hot moist vapor for a length of time sufficient to render said parts comparatively pliant and workable, and thereafter, but while the heat of said vapor remains in the work, simultaneously bending and elongating said parts With force, directed toward the last, sufficient to place said parts in close relation to the adjacent portion of the upper, and maintaining said parts in said relation to the upper while the heat of said vapor is dissipating, thereby causing said portion of the outsole and welt to become permanently set in close edge relation to the upper of the shoe.

5. That improvement in methods of making welt shoes Which includes subjecting only the inside marginal shank portion of the outsole and the corresponding portion of the welt to hot moist vapor for a length of time suicient to render said parts comparatively pliant and workable, and, while said portions are in heated moist condition, leveling the shoe by pressure and concentrating said pressure along said tem-.- pered portions to set theV latter permanently in close relation to the upper.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL. 

